2184 Farm Bureau Circular No. 6 



the better farms it is necessiiry to have $3000 receipts or more. ' Some farmers increase 

 the size of their farms by buying additional land. Some persons rent adjoining land 

 and work extra land with about the same help cmd tools. Some of the pasture land can 

 often be plowed up for crops and the business thus increased. The farm business can be 

 increased by more intensive farming. In this region some intensify by the keeping 

 of poultry or pure-bred stock, or by growing potatoes. I should like to get your opinion 

 as to the advisability of increasing your business and the ways it could be done. 



It has also been found that it generally pays best to have at least two or three impor- 

 tant sources of income rather than one. Your business might pay weU with income from 

 thre^ sources, milk, cattle, and poultry, but each of these enterprises should be 

 larger. Ordinarily, a good cash crop added to the stock income pays. There seem 

 to be very few cash crops grown about Sherman. In regions studied where cash crops 

 are grown, fanners that get about half of their income from the sale of crops and the 

 other half from stock, make nearly twice as much money as those who depend entirely 

 on a stock income. 



The quality of a dairy farm can be measured by the receipts per cow and crop yields. 

 Your receipts per cow are $33 below the average and not quite half as large as the best. 

 There is no surer way of losing money than to keep cows that do not pay their feed biU. 

 This is probably the weakest part of your business and ought to be the most easily 

 corrected. Larger returns per cow are usually the result of better cows and better 

 feeding. Your feed bill is high. It looks as though you had some poor cows. A satis- 

 factory way to select out the poor cows is to keep a record of the milk produced by each 

 cow by weighing it every tenth day or oftener. I would Uke to have your opinion in 

 regard to the possibility of increasing your dairy receipts. We may have made some 

 error in getting this information. 



Your crop yields are very good. This record seems to show that your greatest 

 opportunity lies along the improvement of your cows. It may also be worth your while 

 to consider the possibility of adding another important income to your business together 

 with the milk. 



I expect to be in your vicinity again next week and wiU surely stop around to see you 

 if possible, and discuss this outline. 



Thanking you for your cooperation, I am, 



Very truly yours. 

 Farm Management Extension Agent 



